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Saturday, 28 December 2013

Er ok, so that’s a lie, I’ll be back in just over 3 weeks
but a girl can dream, eh!

I am off backpacking around Thailand for a few weeks and
will out there for New Years and my birthday! To say I am over excited is an
understatement! I fly out ridiculously early tomorrow morning and can’t wait
for some sunshine and adventure.

Whilst I am away I have some amazing bloggers guest posting,
I can’t wait for you all to see some of the awesome posts they have got coming
your way!

I shall see you at the end of January – hopefully sporting a
good tan!

Wednesday, 25 December 2013

Tuesday, 24 December 2013

Christmas Eve
has always been my favourite day of the Christmas period. I find Christmas day
always a slight anti climax after the big build up! Whilst Christmas Eve is
filled with excitement and cheer, everyone is in good spirits!

My typical
Christmas Eve is spent last minute present shopping (I am terrible for this!),
delivery said presents to friends and watching Santa Clause the Movie (the old
version with Dudley Moore) which has became a bit of a tradition!

In the
evening all our family all gather together for a Chinese and then I head out
for a few festive drinks with friends!

Sunday, 22 December 2013

First up, apologies for the dodgy photos, I used my phone
instead of my usual camera which doesn’t have a flash!

Ok so if you’ve been reading my postings over the past month
you may have gathered by now that I am a huge fan of Christmas! My love of it,
this year, has even extended to my nails! I was lucky enough to receive some
pretty cool Christmas Tree Nail stickers from my #bloggersecretsanta
and was so excited to give them a try!

For a base colour I used Barry M Textured Nail Effect Nail
Paint in Majesty. It’s a fab glittery gold that has a cool texture to it making
it look a bit edgy, I adore this polish on its own but thought it would be a great
back ground for the Christmas Trees!

The trees themselves were so easy to apply, all you need to
do is peel off the stickers and stick them on to your nails. EASY! I love the
final look! I’ve used nail wraps before but not nail stickers. I think these
are fab for a night out, and are just so simple to use!

Saturday, 21 December 2013

Christmas is
the season of fun filled festivities and merriment, a time for family, friends, food and
some fabulous drinks. As the song goes ‘Tis the season to be jolly’ and after a
few cocktails you will be well on your jolly way! Therefore each Saturday on
the lead up to Christmas I will be sharing with you my favourite festive
cocktail recipes. I hope you enjoy and let me know if you try one out!

A Mistletoe Kiss

What you'll need...

50ml
Gin

50ml
Grenadine

1tbsp
Lemon Juice

Crushed
Ice

Pour all the
ingredients into a cocktail shaker and shake well. Fill champagne flute with
crushed ice, and pour in mixture. You can decorate the glass by coating a layer
of sugar around the rim.

Thursday, 19 December 2013

As I
explained yesterday, I’ve participated in two bloggers Secret Santa’s this
year. The second one I joined in with was set up by the gorgeous Hayley from ‘Tea Party
Beauty’. One of the funniest blog posts I’ve read for a while was
written by this lovely lady ‘24 Hours to Live - The End is Nigh’, if you
have not read it, go now!

So
to say I was a little excited when I received a giant red parcel box is an
understatement! My excitement then escalated when I opened up the beautiful
gold gift box inside to find all these fabulous treats!

I
feel so spoilt with all these gorgeous pieces! I especially love the Lush
shower gel and the cute little bath bomb. So i would like to say a massive
THANK YOU to my Santa, the beautiful Jessica from ‘Beauty, Bits and Bobs by Jess
B’, I feel really spoilt!

Wednesday, 18 December 2013

I’ve been a
little naughty this year and got involved in two separate bloggers secret Santa’s!
I loved the whole process, stalking someone via social media (not in a creepy
way, obvs!) and finding new fab blogs to read and follow. Trying to establish
what you think they would like and making it personal to them. I had so much
fun playing Santa and hope my giftee’s likes their goodies!

So the first Secret
Santa I got involved in was set up by Hannah Bailey who blogs over at ‘hannah bee’. I love her blog, so go
check it out if you haven’t already!

I was so
excited when this box of goodies arrived and my Secret Santa was revealed as
Georgia from ‘What I Adore More’,
a very cute blog which I can’t believe I hadn’t come across prior to this
Secret Santa!

Georgia was
so thoughtful and I received a beautiful Cath Kidston notebook and this
gorgeous mug along with some yummy chocolates (which may have lasted all of
five minutes, oops!). It was such a lovely present to receive, so I would like
to say a massive thank you to Georgia!

Saturday, 14 December 2013

Christmas is
the season of fun filled festivities and merriment, a time for family, friends, food and
some fabulous drinks. As the song goes ‘Tis the season to be jolly’ and after a
few cocktails you will be well on your jolly way! Therefore each Saturday on
the lead up to Christmas I will be sharing with you my favourite festive
cocktail recipes. I hope you enjoy and let me know if you try one out!

Sloe Gin Fizz

You Will
Need...

Crushed Ice

50ml Sloe Gin

Dash of Lemon Juice

Cream Soda

Blackberries

Fill a tall
glass with ice, Pour in the Gin and lemon juice, then stir. Top up with Cream
Soda and add a handful of Blackberries to garnish.

Friday, 13 December 2013

Here are my thoughts… I LOVE hearing other people’s views and reviews on pretty much anything especially books! Some of my favourite reads are ones that have been suggested by other people. So thinking along those lines,’ The Book Club Takeover’ was born! Hopefully each week I will bring to you a post from one of my lovely and amazing fellow bloggers who will in turn share with you what their favourite book is, why they love it and a review. I hope you enjoy this feature as much as I do!

Hi I am Loretta, I’m a second year Zoology student at Bangor
University and I blog over at The University Project about my day to day
university life, stationery, books and everything in between! I’ve recently
been planning some beauty and fashion posts and I would really love suggestions
on the kind of posts you would like to see! I only started my blog this summer
but it is quickly becoming my pride and joy, I love having my own little space on
the internet!

I’m one of those girls who attempts to follow fashion but I
never manage to pull it off quite the way I intended to and therefore I think
my favourite book is The Devil Wears Prada by Lauren Weisberger, in fact I
completely love the whole series! As much as I enjoy a good meaty book,
sometimes a girl just needs a bit of light hearted reading! The long awaited
instalment came out this summer I immediately marked it for my holiday reading!

I’m sure most of you have either read the book or seen the very popular movie adaptation but just in case you have been living under a rock for the best of this century I will sum up the book for you. A young recent graduate from Brown is struggling to make her way in the New York writing scene and so takes the job of an assistant at a fashion magazine but it turns out she has the boss from hell but everyone in the industry knows that if you survive a year, you can get any writing job you want. Andrea does her best to stick it out and understand the world of high fashion that she has found herself thrown into whilst attempting in vain to convince her loved ones that she hasn’t changed or lost her values.

Lauren Weisberger is such a talented writer and every time I open one of the books I completely believe the situation she is writing about. I loved her books as a teenager and I still love them now in my early twenties and I think that says a lot about how relatable her writing is. I’ve always enjoyed the escapism aspect of reading a good book and I have yet to find a Weisberger book that doesn’t achieve this.

Lastly I want to thank Gemma for allowing me to take part in her book club, I have been keeping my eye out for a bloggers book club for a while soI was thrilled when she asked me to take part!

Wednesday, 11 December 2013

As you may have guessed by now I’m a
little bit in love with Lush’s seasonal offerings. As I shared last week their
Snow Fairy shower gel is a highlight of this time of year for me. However there
are a few other Christmas goodies I like, one of these being their Christmas
Eve Bubble Bar.

I love their Bubble Bar range, I’ve
never been that keen on Bath Bombs but their Bubble Bars are the best invention
ever! This one is perfect for those wintery evenings leading up to Christmas.

The Christmas Eve Bubble Bar is made
from Jasmine and Ylang Ylang Oil. To me it smells quite floral, something I’m
not usually a fan of, however this wasn’t too overpowering and I quite liked
it! As usual it’s also super bubbly, which the big kid in me is a huge fan of!

Monday, 9 December 2013

I am truly getting into the Christmas
Spirit, hence the ELF quote today! It has to be one of my favourite Christmas
films, it never fails to make me laugh and get me in the mood. Yesterday I spent
the day wrapping presents and watching made for TV Christmas movies, so to say I’m
getting excited is an understatement!

As I mentioned in last Mondays post, I
am all about spreading the Christmas spirit! I love this time of year as
everyone seems to make an extra effort to kind, do good deeds and to just be
generally more lovely. I wish this could be bottled up and everyone to embrace
this all year round!

Anyhow, back to today’s quote, I don’t
want you all literally singing! I am a terrible singer, I just shout. I am
taking this metaphorically as in you need to be the person you want to be! Therefore
I am going to make an extra effort and take the time to do some good deeds and
just be a more kind and helpful person. I think we can all be guilty of getting
wrapped up in ourselves and being a little selfish. If you can’t slow down and
look at the wider picture at Christmas, when can you?

Sunday, 8 December 2013

As
I mentioned last Sunday, I treated myself to Boots Beauty Advent Calendar this
year. I was a little unsure what to expect, so didn’t have high expectations
just in case! However there was no need for that as for the past 8 days I’ve
had an exciting treat each and every day and thought id share with you all what
goodies I’ve had so far...

Vichy Idealia Life Serum
– This stuff is
amazing at rehydrating my skin!

Nina Ricci L’Eau Parfum – I love perfeum samples, I keep them
in my handbag for freshening up emergencies.

Rimmel Sat Matte Mini
Foundation – I’m currently
looking for a new foundation, so this is the perfect sample to try for a few
days. So far so good, the colour is perfect!

Umberto Giannini Pom Pom
Pony Band

Soap & Glory Mini
Clean Girls Body Wash –
Huge fan of Soap &Glory products, so was super happy to find this under the
first door!

Balmi Cube Blistered Lip
Balm in Coconut

Mavala London Mini Nail
Polish – I am sporting
this polish now and will do a post soon!

Saturday, 7 December 2013

Christmas is
the season of fun filled festivities and merriment, a time for family, friends, food and
some fabulous drinks. As the song goes ‘Tis the season to be jolly’ and after a
few cocktails you will be well on your jolly way! Therefore each Saturday on
the lead up to Christmas I will be sharing with you my favourite festive
cocktail recipes. I hope you enjoy and let me know if you try one out!

The Christmas Pudding

You Will
Need...

50ml Brandy

3tbsp Honey

Whipped Cream

Pour the
Brandy and Honey into a cocktail shaker and shake well, then strain. Pour the
mix into a tall shot glass or brandy glass. Add whipped cream onto the top. The
perfect after dinner tipple.

Friday, 6 December 2013

Here are my thoughts… I LOVE hearing other people’s views and reviews on pretty much anything especially books! Some of my favourite reads are ones that have been suggested by other people. So thinking along those lines,’ The Book Club Takeover’ was born! Hopefully each week I will bring to you a post from one of my lovely and amazing fellow bloggers who will in turn share with you what their favourite book is, why they love it and a review. I hope you enjoy this feature as much as I do!

Still Alice, reviewed by Terri from the brand new blog The London Book Blog. You can find just about anything to do with books on my blog; reviews, photos, quotes, new releases, the good, the bad and the ugly. I just want to read books, write books and sniff books. I love books. I'm also from London - books + London are a good combination, right?

'I can't stand the thought of looking at you someday, this face I love, and not knowing who you are.'

When Alice finds herself in the rapidly downward spiral of Alzheimer's disease she is just fifty years old. A university professor, wife, and mother of three, she still has books to write, places to see, grandchildren to meet. But when she can't remember how to make her famous Christmas pudding, when she gets lost in her own back yard, when she fails to recognise her actress daughter after a superb performance, she comes up with a plan. But can she see it through? Should she see it through?

Losing her yesterdays, living for each day, her short-term memory is hanging on by a couple of frayed threads.

But she is still Alice.

I was initially attracted to this book because my lovely Nan is suffering from Dementia and the two diseases, Alzheimer's and Dementia, fascinate me. Actually, I'm not sure if they fascinate me or sadden me but I know that they both have an affect on me. That's really the main reason I picked up this book. I found it really easy to get into, as well, which I really like about a book.

The main character is a fifty year old university teacher who has a really hectic lifestyle. She's always travelling, teaching and trying to spend quality time with her husband. She first begins to realise something isn't right when she goes for a run on her usual route and finds that she can't figure out where she's ended up, even though this is the route she always runs. A more eye-opening part of the book sees her enter a house she believes is her own only to find it isn't when she begins rearranging her kitchen cupboards to 'how they used to be', and the person who owns the house finds her and takes her home.

Without telling you the whole story, she knows she has to do something because she knows that one day she's not going to remember the faces of the people who love her. She decides to visit her doctor who diagnoses her with Early Onset Dementia. Her Doctor suggests a medical trial which could see a revolution for Dementia patients which Ali isn't keen on at first but decides to go with it. She also writes herself a note explaining that if she cannot answer all of the questions, with no hesitation, on that note then she is not of sound mind.

Throughout the book, we witness a downward spiral of Dementia and how it affects not only the person suffering from it, but their family, friends and loved ones too.

Still Alice is quite a sad read but I think it's good to read if you have a loved one suffering from this terrible disease as it allows you glimpses into their mind and you realise that their behaviour and words are not their fault. It is an extremely relate-able book that will never leave my bookshelf.

Thursday, 5 December 2013

Along with
all the usual Christmas fun, another thing that happens is all the limited
edition/seasonal specials come back onto the shelves.

My favourite
of these being Lush’s Snow Fairy, which is a limited edition shower gel. It’s
usually released in the first week of October and it’s available until just
after Christmas. My luck was in this year as I happened to pop into my nearest
Lush store on the day it first went on sale. It is the ultimate seasonal buy
for me, and each year I try and bulk buy it.

The scent of
candy floss and pear drops, it sounds sickly sweet and it kind of is but in a
ridiculously good way. The scent stays on your skin for hours and is gorgeous. It
also makes my bathroom smell yummy.

Also being a
complete magpie, the fact the shower gel is glittery isn’t lost on me. It completely
adds to my lust for it. Don’t worry though, you don’t step out of the shower
looking like you’re one of the glittery vamps out of twilight.

If you buy
into any of the seasonal limited edition products this year, make sure its Snow
Fairy!

Tuesday, 3 December 2013

As mentioned before in other DIY posts
I am a huge fan of scouring pinterest for ideas and inspiration. Last Christmas
I kept coming across these vintage stamped gift tags which are so simple but so
effective. They’ve cropped up a few times on pinterest this year as well as on
a few blogs I follow and I think they look fab! So I couldn’t resist giving it
a go myself.

I found the vintage tags in my craft
box at home and the alphabet
stamps I came across on Ebay
for £4.99, which includes ink. I thought this was pretty reasonable! When they
arrived, I was so excited to give them a try, it’s now meant I have done all my
Christmas labels already!

Monday, 2 December 2013

Well it’s no secret I LOVE this time
of year! I absolutely heart the Christmas build up, and one of the reasons for
this is because of the ‘Christmas Spirit’. It’s a time for giving and good
deeds, everyone tends to be in such a better mood and I see many more kind
gestures being done than usual. I want to fully embrace this and make more of
an effort to do some good deeds and happy doings over the next few weeks. I’m
hoping if I make more of an effort it will become a good habit that will follow
me into the New Year! I plan on being considerate and making small gestures for
others. These often mean so much more than big gestures.

Sunday, 1 December 2013

I absolutely
love the build up to Christmas. I love decorating the tree, the fact it brings
people together and the community spirit it entails. The age old traditions it
encompasses, it is a truly magical time of year. I wish the Christmas spirit
would live on throughout the rest of the year but then I guess it wouldn’t be
as special.

As much as I
love Christmas, I refuse to let it take over before the start of December, so for
the next 25 days I intend to fully embrace this time of year and be as festive
as possible! This will be heavily noticed on this blog as for the next 25 days
all posts will take on a Christmas theme on the lead up to the big day itself.
I will be calling blogmas! I am looking forward to filling posts with Christmas
product reviews, Christmas books, Christmas recipes etc. I think you can grasp
the idea!

As if I need any more encouragement, but have you seen Boots Beauty advent calendar?!! It’s such an awesome idea, especially for a beauty junkie like me! Each day I get to open a window to a different beauty product. I will let you know what treats I get to uncover!